Month: August 2019

1. Sins like Snow and Wool

Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

God promises to make red sins white. This metaphor for the forgiveness of sins is colorful and helps us see the difference between the forgiveness God promises on account of Jesus Christ and sins that remain unforgiven because of unbelief. Scarlet and crimson may be beautiful colors, but sins looking like this kind of red are not pretty. Scarlet and crimson are the colors of blood when it seeps out of the human body leading to death. Death is never a pretty sight. Sin and death is ugly and abhorrent, and it should be seen and felt as horrible as it really is.

We not only need whiteness, but we also yearn for something so pure and beautiful. If we could only see what we look like inside to the sight of God we would rejoice with joy unbelievable. So God gives us this promise so we might get a glimpse of the vast difference it makes in my soul when I receive the forgiveness of sins that Jesus earned for us. White and bright is what we see when we picture the glory of God, like in the transfiguration of Christ. The beauty of holiness is stunningly brilliant. It is not so hard for us to imagine the beautiful brilliance of God in His Glory; but it is hard to imagine how bright we look on the inside. If only we could see!

God gives this promise in a picture so that by faith in God’s Word we can see what can’t be seen with the physical eye. The eye of faith sees snow and wool. We know we are not that way, that we don’t look like that, and that we don’t feel pure. But seeing ourselves as God sees us lifts us up and changes our lives. This is the power of the Gospel when we hear with faith.

“Let us reason together”= see yourselves from My point of view, says the Lord. See the ugliness of your own sin, and repent; see the beauty and brightness of the forgiveness of sin, and believe. This is reason. Agree with God: Sin is ugly; Forgiveness of beautiful. The Blood of death is horrible; the Blood of Christ is wonderful.

1. A Remnant

Isaiah 1:9 Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

There is a promise repeated in the prophets that there shall always be a remnant of true believers. The majority of God’s people exhibit a history of unbelief and unfaithfulness to the Lord who saves them; but as complete as the just judgment that came upon them there will always be a remnant. Eventually that faithful remnant produced the Savior of the world, and the remnant grew into a mighty church of faithful believers. 

However, even though there has been a great growth of Christians throughout the world over the history of the New Testament Era, that number will be a minority out of all the people of the world, all those for whom Christ died. That is why, no matter how big the church grows, the true believers will always be a remnant. That number is a definite number in God’s mind, but it is totally unknown to us humans. That number of faithful believers is said to be 144,000, a symbolically large number (12x12x1000), but certainly many more than just that exact number. The impact of the “remnant” on the world is still powerful (they are salt and light), although it will never be a majority of the world’s people.

If there were even a ten-person remnant in Sodom God would have spared the city. Now through Isaiah God promises that the remnant is large enough to prevent a Sodom and Gomorrah judgment. Elijah thought he was the only true believer left in Israel, and God told him there were still hundreds who did not bow to Baal. Gideon was left with a mere 300 soldiers to fight the battle, but that was enough for God to grant victory. We may at times feel like true Christians are a weak minority in the world and that Evil is winning; but the promises assure us that we are saved and that we are not alone. The Church will still remain even when assaulted on every side.

The remnant, the Church of true believers, has a power and influence that far outweighs the numbers. We do not need to ever be discouraged. This promise also applies to our personal lives: God left in each of us a remnant. Take heart.

369. Make Perfect

Hebrews 13:21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

We have this as a wonderful promise from the Lord: He is making us perfect. That claim may seem presumptuous, since everyone knows, “Nobody’s perfect.” But it is still true: God is in the process of making us perfect. He isn’t done yet, but we have the promise that He will finish the job. When you think about it long enough you realize that this the way it must be. We, who are far less than perfect, are being made perfect so that we can live a perfect life with a perfect God in a perfect eternal heaven and earth. If we were not perfect we would not be with God and He could not be with us. So Christ makes us perfect.

“Perfect” here means perfect in every good work to do His will; He works in us what is well pleasing to God. Just think: “every good work,” “do his will,” well pleasing in His sight.” This is all a part of God’s promise. It is difficult, but inspiring, to dream about living such a life, where everything we did and said was a good work that brought a blessing to others, uplifted lives, and was pleasing to God. If everyone around us were always doing God’s will in every way all the time then the harmony and beauty and wonder and love of that world would be beyond description. And that is just the kind of kingdom God is preparing for us, and preparing us for.

Perfect means holy and pure, without flaw or blemish, but more importantly, perfect means whole, complete, nothing lacking. We are so fragmented, broken, and double minded that we couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be a unified, integrated, together, and whole person. God does not want, and we do not want, such broken and incomplete people to be living in a perfect environment. Therefore, God is making us perfect. We may not like the process now, but the result will be worth the patience.

368. Sanctify with Blood

Hebrews 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

Jesus sanctified the people. This is a fulfilled promise: we who believe in Jesus are sanctified. Jesus is our sanctification. He sanctified us with His own blood, meaning that He suffered and died for us as a sacrifice in our place. He shed His blood as a fulfillment of Scripture. Bloodshed, or execution, could only take place outside the city walls. The shedding of innocent blood contaminates the land and corrupts the nation. (Makes one wonder what abortion does to the country.) The shedding of Jesus’ blood was a corruptible and contaminated event, because the sins of the world were in the death and shed blood of Jesus Christ. Sin brings a curse; Jesus became a curse for us. The curse is in the blood that takes the sins away.

When innocent blood is shed as a substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of the people, the sins are taken away, all is forgiven, the guilty are declared innocent, the sinners are made righteous, and the people are sanctified, or made holy. Couldn’t God have sanctified us and made us holy in some other way than with the innocent blood of His Son? The answer is Yes, of course, for God can do anything; but the answer is No, for there is no other just, righteous, eternal, or satisfactory way to sanctify sinners. Innocent blood is the only way God can save us and make it stick forever. We don’t totally understand the full reason why, but we do know that there is no other way by which we may be saved.

God did not just come up with the best plan of salvation, but apparently sending His own Son to shed His innocent blood is the only way. At any rate, it the only way of salvation the Lord provided for people, and Christ’s blood is the only way in which we may and must go. There is no other name; there is no other way; there is no other blood. But Jesus is the Name, the Way, and the Life (blood). He sanctifies.

No matter what else you know, know this: Jesus sanctified you, Jesus saved you, Jesus forgave you, Jesus justifies you, Jesus makes you holy, Jesus gave you eternal life, Jesus redeemed you, and much more. Jesus loves you. Take this promise to heart and rejoice in it.

367. Established with Grace

Hebrews 13:9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.

It is a good thing that the heart is established with grace. And that is truly a wonderful promise. All men are in desperate need of an established heart. The heart needs to be solid and firmly established on a firm foundation. If the heart is sound, unshaken, and unmovable then everything in life works out well. All of life originates from the heart of a human being. We can tweak the outward behavior a little bit and maybe improve a couple of things in our life, but all our strongest efforts will be severely limited. We cannot basically change ourselves, and much less can we change another person. God does not tinker with the outward man, but the work of the Lord goes to the inside, to the heart, and works the change deep inside the spirit. Then the spirit works slowly to change the outward man over time. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer we are praying, “Lord, change me.” And He will, from the inside out.

The Law with all its rules ultimately changes nothing; nothing will happen to behavior unless the Gospel changes the heart. The heart is transformed when the sinner repents and believes the Gospel. This is Grace; grace establishes the heart, puts it on a solid footing, and gives the person a fresh start every day. When we start the day on the right foot every other step can be ordered by the Lord. And that would be a good thing. Jesus Christ is the solid rock, the firm foundation. Grace puts us solidly in that place.

Jesus said, “Out of the heart proceed murders, adulteries, etc., etc.” He says, “Go to the heart and let me change it.” Otherwise you have no hope. We are saved by grace; we are forgiven by grace; we are loved by grace; and we are changed by grace. We are not established with “meats,” which means, outward rituals, kosher foods, cleaning the outside of the cup, making proper sacrifices, keeping the Sabbath; and we can even add: going to church, saying your prayers, putting on a smile, and doing good works. Such things (“meats”) do not change the heart; the heart changes the behavior.

Furthermore, a person does not, and he cannot, establish the heart. Only God can; only Grace does. And that is the promise of the Gospel: God establishes the heart, and therefore, as a result, the life.

366. My Helper

Hebrews 13:6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper; and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

The Lord is with us; the Lord will never leave us; the Lord is by our side all the time; the Lord is my ever-present help. This is a sure and a precious promise from God. Therefore, I will not be afraid of people for any reason. There is nothing anyone can say or do to me that can cause me to fear or worry; I have nothing to be anxious about, as long as the Lord is my helper.

The very One who Loves me and Saves me is the One who Helps. He already gave Himself up for my forgiveness and salvation. How could He not also give us all things? It is this One who is sitting on God’s right hand, ruling the universe for my good. All authority has been given to Him, and He is the One who is in charge of my life. This One who can do all things is my Helper. He is by my side, even within me, to help me at all times, and He is especially close in time of trouble and need. I get myself into trouble, and my Helper is there to deliver me from the evil of it.

The only problem I could have comes when I do not think I want or need help, when I think I must take care of the issue by myself. I also have a problem when I do not believe the Lord is there to help me, or I forget about His present help in trouble. These lonely and helpless times do not have to last long, because we have so many promises that we can turn to Him for help any time, any place, for any problem. And when the Lord helps, help always comes in time; and help often come from sources and methods I could never have thought of by myself. From whomever, from wherever, or however the help comes the source is always the Lord who is my helper. The Lord is there to be for us the Help we need, and we can be certain He will help us through every time of need. “What a Friend we have in Jesus!”

365. Never Leave or Forsake

Hebrews 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

“I will never ever, no never, not ever leave you.” The force of all the negatives piles up until we are left with absolute, positive certainty. Jesus is with us always; we are never alone. The promise could not be more certain. It is given to us both positively and negatively in God’s Word. Itis said that the deepest fear for every child is the fear of abandonment. It is traumatic when it really happens through death or tragedy, and it is ever worse when it happens through divorce or in any other way intentionally. 

But being left forsaken can happen and it does happen. Children grow up with security when they are constantly assured that Mom and Dad will always be there no matter what. The children of God have that same kind of security, and they are able to grow up into stable, mature, productive adult Christians. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was forsaken, abandoned, and left alone by His Father for a time so that we could be guaranteed that we would never be left alone. Not only do we have the security of not being forsaken, we also have the security and freedom from the threat, or even the possibility, of being left alone.

It is because of this “never leave” promise that we may be able to be content with what we have. The result of the promise is that your life can be free from the love of money. This is called covetousness; covetousness in the Bible is called idolatry. We may not readily admit to idolatry, but we must admit to covetousness. The main reason we love money is for security, and we also seek the pleasure and power that money brings. But none of those worldly things will make us more secure and content than having the promise that Jesus will always be with us.

Contentment is an amazing and beautiful fruit of faith in Jesus Christ. Contentment with such things as ye have is an impossible goal to achieve on our own. But with the solid Promise of the constant Presence of God it is possible. Provision and security is guaranteed. If God is for us who can be against us? If God is with us how can we ever lose?

364. Consuming Fire

Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.

That God is a consuming fire is really a good promise for us, while it is at the same time a terrifying threat. Of course, it is a threat in that the believer, and the unbeliever if he will listen, should “fear” God because of his sins. Sin will never in any sense please God and He will not tolerate sin or overlook it. By the nature of who God is He must, and He will, always consume sin with the fire of His holiness. Fire shoots out from the Holy Presence of God and consumes the sinner. One among many examples in the Bible is the fire that consumed Nadab and Abihu, the first priests, for offering strange fire before the Lord in His Tabernacle. The believer fears God and does not want to grieve the Holy Spirit. There is this negative side of “consuming fire” that curbs the coarse outburst of sin, which would destroy the world as in the days of Noah.

That God is a consuming fire is a positive promise in this sense: God will surely punish all sin wherever it is found. And He did. God the Father punished and judged sin definitively and forever at the cross of Jesus Christ, His Son. That eternal punishment and judgment was administered to our sin when we believed and were baptized. Thank God for that judgment. Our sin has been consumed in the fire of Calvary. (If a person does not believe the Son he shall not see life, but “the wrath of God remains on him.” John 3:36.) Then all sin and evil will be eternally consumed in the eternal fire of the Final Judgment. This consuming fire is for us Great News. It is another way of saying that our Sin is truly gone, for God took it away with a consuming fire. God gave us another metaphor for looking at the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Fire is a wonderful promise. John the Baptist promised that Jesus would baptize believers with the Holy Spirit and with Fire. The Spirit is a fire living and burning within us. He is continually consuming sin within. Sins are always being forgiven. That is a promise we can live with; it regenerates new life daily.

363. An Unmovable Kingdom

Hebrews 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

We have received a kingdom that cannot be moved. This promise we have already received. It is already a part of our life. “The kingdom is within you.” John the Baptist announced the coming of the kingdom of God. Then Jesus appeared in public and announced the Kingdom of God: it is here. Jesus is the Kingdom of God. Then he invites and gathers others to join Him, and believers become the Kingdom of God. When Jesus ascended into heaven He left us the Kingdom. It is the Church of all believers in Christ on the earth.

The promise is that this kingdom cannot be moved. It cannot crumble; it cannot be shaken; it cannot fall; it cannot end. We are in the Kingdom and it is eternal; that is a guarantee. All earthly kingdoms pass away; indeed, heaven and earth will pass away, but the Word of the Lord endures forever. That Word is in our hearts and on our lips: Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. The world and all the kingdoms of the world, the institutions of life on earth, everyone we know will die, and the hopes and dreams of human existence have the sentence of death upon them. Everything will become the eternal kingdom of God, and God will be all in all. The Good News that we have received such a kingdom. We live in it now and forever.

Because we have the kingdom ruling within us now and because we are certain that we will live and reign with Him forever we have grace. Grace is the present gift from Jesus that gives us power to live and enjoy the life of God. By that grace which gifts us the eternal kingdom we are able to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. Reverence and godly fear is faith in Jesus Christ. Faith comes and expands when we hear the Gospel. Biblical, or godly, fear equals faith. We serve God in faith, because of faith, and out of faith in the true and saving God. We serve God not by doing something for Him, but we serve God because He has done it all for us. He has given us the kingdom. We serve God by serving people around us and in our world. God does not need our service, but others do. There is nothing that we can do that “serves” God; we fear Him, love Him, and worship Him, but we cannot add anything to His life. His life is already full, but there are many people around us whose life is not full. They need us; we serve them by grace. And in so doing we serve God. We have received God’s promise of a kingdom. Now we are free to serve God acceptably. We have grace to serve and bless others.

362. Mount Zion

Hebrews 12:22, 23 But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.

God promises that you, the believer in Christ, have not come to Mount Sinai but to Mount Zion: you have not come to the Law but to the Gospel. Mount Sinai (Hebrews 12:18-21) was the physical mountain that burned with fire, and blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and sound of trumpet, and voice of words (Ten Commandments). This was a terrifying place, a place that worked terror and condemnation in the heart. This was the place of the giving of the Law. Now the Law is good and it is meant for our wellbeing and for the enjoyment of life, but we, the sinners, are bad and guilty of disobeying the Law, so the Law always accuses us and brings terror and death. Moses, as mediator, brought a good thing, but because of sin it turned out to be a terrible and frightening thing. Moses is the minister of Death, on Mt. Sinai.

But Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, brought salvation and the forgiveness of sin. He is the minister of Life, in the heavenly Mt. Zion. It is to this mountain that we have come. It is the Gospel. Through Christ and His Gospel we have come to the eternal, spiritual, Kingdom of God. This promise goes by different names, but they are all various descriptions of the same thing: the city of God, the company of angels, the church of the firstborn, the judge of all, and the spirits of just men made perfect. All these promise we have when we hear the Gospel. All of these things we lump generally under the term “heaven.”This is the promise: we have heaven right now in the heart by faith, and we have the guarantee of heaven after we die by sight.

We are now, and we will be, in a glorious company of angels and saved men. We are now, and we will be, in the heavenly city, which is Paradise Restored. Even though we do not see it now and we do not live in it yet, what we do have is the promise. We do see Jesus and we look unto Him. We seek to hear the Gospel that brings us to this Mountain-City-Paradise-Church as often as possible. The invitation is always open: “Come on up! Enter in! You are welcome here!”